Old Timers Fading Fast

Many of us are still around. We're just so old now that we can barely see without our spectacles and since the asset server lost my cane, I can't go out for my evening constitutional the way I used to.

Ahhhh to be young again.......*sigh*

though i'm not so old as many of you, i may be feeling it more. when i began, it was easy to go inworld. now, though, it's grown so much that it's much harder to go inworld, so i just go in continent instead...

It took me a while to think about this, but I think I have an idea.

The thing is.. most of the oldbies who I know who still come in-world really do it just to do RL-equivalent things. Just chatting with friends (often in IM), doing business for RL money, and so on.

"Virtual" things - like trying out a new outfit in the latest club, flying with the dragons, etc.. do tend to get stale, because the brain starts to recognize that there are only relatively few patterns involved in them. If you seen Raph Koster's book "A Theory of Fun" it describes a lot about this - after 20 or more years as a game designer, Raph himself found himself becoming a little bored with _all_ games because he could instantly fit them into patterns. SL is the same, except it takes rather less time because there is less flexibility and thus less patterns.

But what about the people? Well.. this is probably the controversial point.. even the BEHAVIOUR OF PEOPLE with regard to these virtual activities tends to fit into patterns. It's only where it breaks through into RL-equivalent type behavior that it becomes interesting. But otherwise, it's very easy to end up predicting what's going to happen in virtual situations. I once wrote a "good avatar simulator" which detected the names of people around you and used the object naming trick to generate chat appearing to come from them with particular phrases (such as "Where did you get that?" and "ur hawt wtcyber". It worked worryingly well at reproducing the experience.

That is a very astute observation, and I agree whole-heartedly. Things are not as fun and entertaining when you know what is coming around the next two corners.

I think friends, as you mentioned, and the fact I still dabble in the creative side of SL, are the two things that keep me going here. I've read some of Raph's writings, and he has good insights (not to mention he can be very amusing).

So Yumi's saying you can't go on nibbling toes forever. Maybe I should start moving up the leg?

Not that you can't nibble toes forever, but that ultimately you just know the result will be "ouch!".

that tickles!

I think Philip Linden said people go through SL in phases, too. That book by Raph Kostner sounds interesting and I would be inclined to agree. Surprise is most of the fun. Even some small element. Well, but oddly, a certain element of predictability also.

If the Lindens make this platform TOO 'predictable' though it just might kill it.

SL is interesting from a sociological/anthropological point of view and I don't mean as it relates to RL but within itself. Well, I suppose I relate it to RL in the sense one draws upon what one knows of other cultures, for understanding - but not to compare one to the other for merit.

"Noobs" are often fleeced, taken advantage of or exploited - a bit like people 'fresh off the boat' from Ellis Island used to be.

People form communities. People go through stages in SL like the life stages - wow isn't everything cool! of youth, wow let's party! of young adulthood, I better settle down! of middle adulthood, I better start a business! sometime in adulthood. Where do I fit in? somewhere in the early stages, and periodically after.

Then as one 'ages' in SL, "what is the meaning and the purpose" and again, "Where do I fit in" and "how is my business doing - and should I retire?" And "let me build a mansion/buy an island and enjoy the fruits of my labor." And maybe even, "who can I mentor?"

Very interesting, to me.

How old do I have to be before I reach THIS stage ??

Some people work up to it after a few years.

Some people do it on their second day.

Some people do it in their third week, then find that the "fruits" aren't appealing to them and tear it down.

I am still waiting for the answer to that one, myself. Lol.

did it around year 2, then LL bumped the pricing up, then grandfathered us, then messed up billing so bad credit ratings got screwed. We bailed out. Been back on the mainland since and never once regretted the move. The pictures in my sig are of our now nonexistant island.